Chinese word

刁难

Pronunciation

Pinyindiāo nàn

Meaning

  • verbmake things difficult for

Example

他总爱刁难新来的员工。tā zǒng ài diāo nàn xīn lái de yuán gōng

He always likes to make things difficult for new employees.

Illustration for 刁难 (make things difficult for)

More examples

她因为敢说真话，经常被同事刁难。tā yīn wèi gǎn shuō zhēn huà jīng cháng bèi tóng shì diāo nàn

Since she dares to speak the truth, her coworkers often give her a hard time.

Core concept

Turns a person's small fault or request into a barrier that blocks ordinary progress.

Common phrases

  • 刁难新员工diāo nàn xīn yuán gōng

    give new employees a hard time

  • 刁难客户diāo nàn kè hù

    give customers a hard time

  • 刁难面试者diāo nàn miàn shì zhě

    give interviewees a hard time

Similar words

为难wéi nán: Make someone struggle by setting a difficult condition or presenting a problem.
找茬zhǎo chá: Find tiny errors in someone's behavior or words and use them as grounds for criticism.
找麻烦zhǎo má fán: Cause someone unwanted difficulty by intentionally bringing trouble into their affairs.

Definition in Chinese

对别人故意挑出毛病或设置障碍，使对方处于为难或难以顺利做事的动词。duì bié rén gù yì tiāo chū máo bìng huò shè zhì zhàng ài shǐ duì fāng chǔ yú wéi nán huò nán yǐ shùn lì zuò shì de dòng cí

Word origin

The compound 刁难 (diāonàn, "to make things difficult") joins 刁 (diāo, "crafty or unreasonable") with 难 (nàn, "difficulty"), linking troublesome behavior with the difficulty it creates.

Usage tips

  • The word commonly sounds critical rather than playful, so applying it to a colleague or official suggests unreasonable obstruction rather than a firm request for more information.

Other meanings

  • troubleverb
  • harassverb

Opposites

Word lists with this word